Has anyone visited the trenchs of World War I in northern France? Are there museums, reconstructions any other places of interest?

There are many WWI sites, trenches, museums and monuments near Verdun. And they are well worth the effort (you do need a car). I don't have any ready sources of more detailed information -- perhaps a good place to start would be the Michelin Green Guide to France.

HI<BR>I had once filed this information<BR><BR>tourguide for World War I battlefields, from Fodor’s forum:<BR>Malcolm Carpenter, <BR>www.euro-traveller.com/, and his email is [email protected] . Malcolm and his wife own a little farm house in NE France, and provide accommodations and tours of WW1 battlefields<BR>

I'm sure that we must have seen some museum exhibits when we did a similar trip, but the thing that I remember most clearly (besides the ossuary at Verdun) is the shell-marked ground on each of the battlefields - there are still deep, grassy craters that will never disappear. There are also fortifications along the Maginot line, in Alsace, that you can visit. <BR><BR>An interesting book for getting in the spirit of this trip is called "Back to the Front" (sub-titled "An Accidental Historian Walks the Trenches of WWI"), by Stephen O'Shea. As the subtitle implies, the author hiked from one battlefield site to another, through France and Belgium, so it's part travelogue, part history.

You will find an excellent museum about World War I called "In Flanders Field" in the center of Ypres, Belgium, only a few miles from the French border. I can also direct you to a Belgian man who runs all-day, personally-directed excursions throughout the battlefield area, including a visit to WW1 trenches near the coast. We used his services two years ago and found him to be excellent.

Hi Jean:<BR><BR>Northern France is full of places of interest regarding WW1. We spent just 3 days in the area last summer and found lots of amazing and sad sites.<BR>We based ourselves in Arras and visited Notre dame de lorette (a French cemetary),(adjacent to this cemetary is a plot of land that has been left entirely as it was with the craters in the earth from shelling and the trenches are still there marked with their particular occupants i.e. German or Allies) and nearby is a German cemetary, lots of Commonwealth cemetaries and some villages who have left their bombed out buildings stand as remembrance of a terrible past.<BR>The Canadian memorial at Vimy Ridge is wonderful, with Canadian students acting as tour guides in the tourist season. Lots of trenches, the tunnels can be toured with a guide (this is excellent!) and there are actually still signs around warning people not to venture on a particular spot of ground due to unexploded bombs! some 84 years later!.<BR>This is just one small area. Michelin puts out maps of the area which are actually overwritten with war sites, cemetaries and towns along the front.<BR>Fascinating area. You won't regret visiting it.

Jean, My husband and I had a delightful experience visiting a WW1 history buff in the small toen of Chateau Thierry north of Paris. We took the train north and he met us at the station and proceeded to spend day with us showing us the towns around the area and the US cemetery in Aisne-Marne which was a beautiful and haunting spot. We located my father in law's uncle's grave and made a rubbing for the family. We also found small church with list of soldiers who had died there from the 26th Yankee division from Massachusetts. We also toured Belleau Woods where we saw old trenchs and could imagine the battles fought there. There is also a striking monument to the Marine Corps that is awesome. If you are interested in finding out more information please email me at the above address and I will forward some links and the email address for the gentleman who we met with. He was very helpful and showed us a wonderful day. My father in law was very pleased to find out more about how his uncle died and to get the headstone rubbing.

we've done the WW1 battlefields 4 times..visiting family grave sites, doing verdun, chateau Thierry, Douay.Ieper...it is so overwhelming that it can almost be indescribable, if you have genuine interest.<BR>Verdun...wonderful guides from canada at the site,good base is around epernay<BR>For Somme..try Albert or environs<BR>For Ieper or Ypres if you prefer..try Ieper..Hotal Adriane recommended<BR>there are tours you can book at the museum<BR><BR>Get the Holt's book , pick up a route guide at the In Flander's Field Museum..one of the best small museums I've seen..<BR>Make sure you visit Mont Kemmel while in Ieper<BR><BR>It is so rich in history you cannot believe it..I know there are other famous sites to see all over...but this area is one of the most soul affecting you will ever visit if your interest lies in this 20th cen era..or if you have family who died there.. All wars are horrible but for some reason this one seems to me to be more horrendous than others